A Lost Possibility
by Midzst
Summary: What if Rose found out about Jake’s secret identity before he found out about hers? Would they have their happily ever after or would it end up worse than what actually happened? Takes place before 'Ski Trip'.
1. Chapter 1

A Lost Possibility

By MidnightzStorm

Thanks to: My kick-butt beta reader, dx/t.

Author's Note: I had this idea in my head for awhile. What if Rose found out about Jake's secret identity before he found out about hers? Would they have their happily ever after or would it just end up worse then what actually happened? I found it hard to believe that Rose never figured it out, especially since the Huntsclan knew Lao-Shi's human identity. This story will probably be two or three parts; it won't be as long as _Destined_.

Disclaimer: I do not own American Dragon: Jake Long.

* * *

"It's a Winter Festival, no Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa," Courtney told Rose seriously. They were standing in the busy school hall, discussing their volunteer project. "Last year Britney Baker was in charge and she let 'Silent Night' on the play list and no one has heard from her since."

"Didn't she just move to Arizona?" Rose asked.

"Yeah that's one story," Courtney said, rolling her eyes, "If we represent one holiday then we will have to all of them equally and that's impossible."

"Then what are we celebrating?"

"The season that is winter, with the snow…"

Rose frowned, she hated this season, not just because she didn't have a family to spend it with, but also because of the snow, the dreaded white blanket of death as she liked to call it. It didn't matter how many layers she wore she always shivered when she had to be in that weather.

"We have a dozen volunteers so far but we need more and also…" Courtney said, but her voice seemed to fade away when Rose spotted Jake. He was walking down the hall, talking to his two best friends, Spud and Trixie. When he saw her, he gave her a butterfly inducing smile, and she couldn't help but grin back at him.

"You weren't listening to me were you?" Courtney asked warily.

"Oh, yes I was," Rose tried to lie.

"No you were making goo-goo eyes at Jake Long. I don't get his appeal; he's like a foot shorter then you. If you go out with him you can kiss your heels goodbye, unless you want to look like Tom and Katie."

"He'll grow," Rose said, rolling her eyes at her friend's superficial accusation.

"And you are planning on being with him that long?" Courtney asked, and when Rose did not answer, but continued to have a dreamy look on her face, Courtney said, "Wow, you got it bad! Get him to volunteer! That's four hours of quality crush time."

Rose wasn't sure if Courtney's suggestion was made because it would give her an excuse to hang out with Jake or because the festival needed more volunteers. Either way, she liked it, so she coyly walked over to his lock where he was chatting with his friends.

"Hey Jake," she said smiling.

"Hey Rose," he replied, matching her grin.

"The Winter Festival is tomorrow and I was wondering, it's a good cause—"

"Yes!" he said, a little too eagerly.

"Boy, let the girl finish," Trixie said frowning at her friend.

Rose smiled at Trixie kindly and continued, "We need more volunteers."

"Sure, we would love to help!" Jake said, a little less enthusiastically than before, not wanting to get glared at again by Trixie.

"We will?" Spud asked confused, but Jake elbowed him.

"Also, I know you have a little sister, so could you see if you could tell her and her friends about it?" Rose requested.

"Sure, my parents are busy that night, but I bet my grandfather wouldn't mind taking her."

* * *

The festival was going as planned the next night. They had made the gym look like a winter wonderland with fake snow put together by countless bottles of glue and absurd amounts of glitter. Rose was in charge of checking in with all of the volunteers and making sure everyone was doing what they were suppose to do.

Rose came to the craft section of the gym where Jake was helping a little red haired girl make a cotton snowman. He smiled at her when she walked up.

"How is it going here?" she asked, returning his smile.

"Good, but we are running low on glue," he answered.

"Is this your girlfriend?" the child asked curiously.

Jake began to blush, and tried to say "She's uhh…"

"I'll go get more glue," Rose said as she tried to hide the giggles that wanted to bubble through her lungs.

When Rose came back, her heart stopped. She saw him, that Chinese dragon. That master of the annoying American Dragon, and he was talking to Jake.

Jake, finally noticing she arrived, said "Hey Rose this is my grandfather and my little sister Haley," motioning to the girl and the dragon.

It took all of Rose's training to not freak out at that moment. Instead she put on her best schoolgirl's smile and said "It's nice to meet you." She handed Jake the glue and muttered that she had to go.

She felt sick.

She ran outside, the cold air smacking her face, she didn't care; all she could try to do was attempt to breathe. If Jake's grandfather was a dragon, then that meant he was one as well. And then another realization hit her harder then a ton of bricks: he must be the American Dragon.

She frowned; she never knew that the dragon could be so convening as to come up with a plan to mess with her. He was probably trying to learn her weaknesses and worm his way into her heart to blackmail her in the most opportune moment. However he slipped up when his grandfather had shown up. She had been to the electronics shop a few times, however never once met the owner. They were good.

"Rose," a familiar voice called out from behind her. She turned quickly to see Jake walking towards her. "What's wrong?" he asked when he saw that her eyes were red and her checks where damp.

"Nothing," she said, clumsily wiping the tears from her eyes. She couldn't let him know that she knew. She couldn't let him know anything.

"Oh you must be freezing," he said, noticing that she had forgotten to bring to her jacket; he took his coat off and wrapped it around her, rubbing his hands on her shoulders to warm her up.

She stared at him, thinking this all was just an act.

"I wasn't sure if it was my sister or Gramps who made you run off like that," he said sheepishly.

"Why would they?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know how family can be kind of embarrassing and insane," he said.

"No, I don't," she answered honestly, looking away.

"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry Rose," he said sincerely. She had closed her eyes to listen to his voice. Why didn't she figure this out sooner?

However another side of her brain asked why Jake would introduce his grandfather to her when he knew that she had the knowledge of his human form, maybe he didn't know who she was. But what were the odds of that?

She was angry at the world for making her life so confusing. The first guy she had truly crushed on ended up being her mortal enemy. She figured that in a month they would have been "officially" going out. She had planned for Jake Long to be her first kiss, and spent many class periods daydreaming what it would be like.

She desperately looked at him, not knowing what to do or what to believe. And when her brain decided to shut down, she decided to get that kiss. She leaned in, their noses painfully bumping into each other, however her lips continued to find their target, and then she rigorously moved her lips against him, trying to forget everything. When their lips met she instantly felt warmer. It took her a few moments to remember why he would be so warm; he could breathe fire because he was a dragon. She pulled away suddenly. Jake's eyes fluttered opened and looked at her in shock.

She quickly took off his coat and said, "I got to go," and ran off into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rose's beautiful manicured pink nails were chipped, while her blond tresses were unkempt, her eyes bloodshot, and her lips a pale blue hue. She had wandered the city for most of the night, letting the truth sink in, trying to figure out what the next step was. Wandering the city at night would have been dangerous for any other girl, however Rose was not even close to any other girl.

She entered her room at the Hunt's lair and she found the Huntsman sitting at her desk. She quickly tried to compose herself, brushing her hair out of her eyes and straightening her clothes.

"Another hour and I was going to send out a search party for you," he said without concern. "Where have you been?"

"I was feeling a little strange and I needed to take a walk," she said half-truthfully. She wondered at times if he could see right through her.

"So what deep thoughts and philosophies did your walk bring?" he asked.

She frown, she hated to lie to him, he raised her after all. "I was thinking about good versus evil."

"Well, little one all you need to that we are on the side of good fighting against those evil abominations," he said flatly and got up to leave.

Rose thought for a little while before asking the question that had haunted her since she first saw a baby unicorn. "Do you really think that all magical creatures are evil?"

"Yes they are," he said with conviction, while he surveyed her as if he had never seen her before. "Who has planted this doubt in your head?"

"I was just thinking during my walk that some people are evil while others are good," she said desperately trying to get him to understand her. "Its not black and white, it's a confusing gray."

"Well this part will not be confusing for you," he said harshly. He took her hand and opened up her palm. "It's your destiny, our destiny to fight and kill all magical creatures."

"Yes master," she said and bowed her head. As he left her room she realized that he never answered her question.

----

When Rose checked her voicemail in the morning she found two messages, one from a concerned Jake who wanted to talk to her as soon as possible, and one from an infuriated Courtney who wanted to talk to her as soon as possible. She decided to call Courtney back first, she could deal with an angry best friend, but not a confused dragon.

Courtney was ticked. She first gave Rose a long tirade about commitment and community service. However once the taller girl took a breath Rose blurted out that she had kissed Jake, in a flash Courtney's angry turned to interest.

"Was it that bad that you had to leave?" she asked teasing.

"No it was actually perfect," Rose said.

"Then the problem is?"

"I just had a whole bunch of emotions jumbling up inside of me," Rose told her. She wanted to tell her friend everything, that she was a hunter and she was in love with her prey.

"So are you going to see him today?"

Rose was silent. Thorn did not run away when the going on tough... well she did, but she didn't like it. She didn't know who she had to be for this situation. Was she suppose to be the hunter or a lovesick girl?

"Rose listen to me," Courtney said, "You have been crushing on this guy for months, which is a heck of a long time in middle school. And it is pretty obvious that he feels the same way, so go for it!"

Rose bit her lip, "You really think he honestly likes me?"

"Oh you are thinking of Brad and the dance," Courtney said, "Brad is a moron, so forget him. Jake has crashed into walls and fallen down stairs because he can't take his eyes off of you. Last night he gave up his Friday evening hanging out with nine year-olds because you asked him."

"You are right," Rose said.

"Of course I am. So what are you going to do?"

----

Rose paced around her room looking at her cell phone's entry of Jake. All she had to do was press the call button, but she it felt like it was the hardest thing in the world.

Finally when she did get the nerve to call him, he sounded so relieve to hear her voice, she could not believe that he was just acting. He wanted to talk about what had happened last night, she agreed, but she wanted to talk in person. He was his grandfather's shop helping out.

Rose walked slowly down the busy street, this time properly covered from the bitter chill. As she walked she wondered what went through his mind last night, if he was just a boy/dragon with a crush. The girl he liked acted completely strange, kissed him and ran into the night.

She shivered thinking of that kiss, she pulled her pink coat closer around her. The newly fallen snow might have been bearable if it was still a beautiful white, however it was a murky driven-through gray.

When she spotted the electronics shop she felt the unnerving desire to run in the other direction. She needed to confront him and get to the bottom of this situation. She took a deep breath and walked into the small shop.

Jake was in the front and when their eyes met, he walked towards her, his arms opened slightly as if he was going to hug her but at the sight of her face he lowered them. She honestly would have liked nothing better than to run into his arms and forget this, however she knew she would go crazy without answers.

Her eyes began to water, but she looked him straight in the eye and asked him: "Can I ask you a question and will you promise to answer truthfully?"

"Yes, I never want to lie to you," he said solemnly, his young face very serious.

"Well isn't that the problem?" she asked, turning away from him slightly. "You have been lying to me from the start, but of course so have I."

"Rose what are you talking about?" He was obviously confused.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked, turning towards him, her eyes a violent shade of blue.

"You are Rose."

"No, Jake, do you know who I really am?"

He looked at her quizzical. She felt some relief, maybe all this time he didn't know of her other identity, just like she had his.

"Well I know who you really are," she said. She was at first scared. She knew as a loyal member of the Huntsclan, she should have gone straight to the Huntsman with the information. However she felt dizzy when she thought of Jake slain.

"Who am I then?"

"You are a dragon," she said simply.

"Dragons aren't real," he said trying to stay composed. She felt better that at least she was no longer alone in the 'freak-out' zone.

She moved cautiously closer to him and said with the same amount of conviction, "Yes they are, American Dragon."

"How do you know that?" he asked breathless.

"Because I knew your grandfather was a dragon and I also know the abilities skip a generation."

"How-"

"I captured him once, months ago, a top this very building," she said starting to feel her breath leave her as well. She saw his face contort from confusion to actualization, coming to the same conclusion she came to the night before.

"You are Huntsgirl."


End file.
